content type 'page' gone missing

I also checked the node_type table, and 'Page' (which is the first line) looks just like 'Story' below it, except for the different name and description, so I'm guessing the damage isn't there.

Well I gave up on fixing the DB and restored from an earlier one (a day and a half of work down the drain). So then I start importing my new page-variation nodes and on the very first one I once again lose my 'page' node type even though it added the imported variant apparently fine. No errors reported. So maybe it wasn't the unescaped single-quote that caused the problem after all, I think.

I restore the database again (this time I have a backup from immediately before I begin trying to import new node types), and try my next set of imported variants. These are based on a custom 'news' event that I created from scratch based loosely on the 'story' node type. All five variants get imported just fine. Hmm.

The only significant difference I can find between the export/import script for my page variants and my news variants is the "old_type" and "orig_type" lines. The "old_type" is "page" for the exported page, and "news" for the exported new node type. But the "orig_type" is "page" for the exported page and empty (just two single-quotes next to each other) for the news node type I created from scratch. You can see the excerpt below from the "page" node type export.

So I set the "orig_type" to empty single-quotes like my exported "news" node type, changed "name" and "type" to the values for the new page variant, and imported. Ta da! I imported another four variants just fine.

Lesson learned: When making node type variants by exporting a core node type and modifying the "name" and "type", also remove the "orig_type" value to keep from losing your core node type. Oh... also, make backups more often.

P.S. At least I think that's what fixed the problem. Perhaps someone with Drupal core knowledge will be able to correct me, but as of now I have working node type variants and my core node type page, so I'm happy.

Original version straight from the exported "page" node type:

$content[type]  = array (
  'name' => 'Page',
  'type' => 'page',
  'description' => 'A <em>page</em> is a simple method for creating and displaying information that rarely changes, such as an "About us" section of a website. By default, a <em>page</em> entry does not allow visitor comments and is not featured on the site\'s initial home page.',
  'title_label' => 'Title',
  'body_label' => 'Body',
  'min_word_count' => '0',
  'help' => '',
  'node_options' => 
  array (
    'status' => true,
    'revision' => true,
    'promote' => false,
    'sticky' => false,
  ),
  'upload' => '1',
  'show_preview_changes' => 1,
  'nodewords' => 1,
  'notifications_node_ui' => 
  array (
    'form' => false,
    'comment' => false,
    'links' => false,
    'block' => false,
  ),
  'old_type' => 'page',
  'orig_type' => 'page',
  'module' => 'node',
... (cut)

New page variant properly modified:

$content[type]  = array (
  'name' => 'Page, New Variant',
  'type' => 'page_variant',
  'description' => 'A <em>page</em> (here a variant of the core node type) is a simple method for creating and displaying information that rarely changes, such as an "About us" section of a website. By default, a <em>page</em> entry does not allow visitor comments and is not featured on the site\'s initial home page.',
  'title_label' => 'Title',
  'body_label' => 'Body',
  'min_word_count' => '0',
  'help' => '',
  'node_options' => 
  array (
    'status' => true,
    'revision' => true,
    'promote' => false,
    'sticky' => false,
  ),
  'upload' => '1',
  'show_preview_changes' => 1,
  'nodewords' => 1,
  'notifications_node_ui' => 
  array (
    'form' => false,
    'comment' => false,
    'links' => false,
    'block' => false,
  ),
  'old_type' => 'page',
  'orig_type' => '',
  'module' => 'node',
... (cut)